FILE – This Jan. 9, 2014 file photo shows a mockup of a Minuteman 3 nuclear missile used for training by missile maintenance crews at F. E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo. U.S. officials say the number of Air Force service members implicated in a nuclear-force cheating scandal has roughly doubled from the 34 initially cited by the Air Force. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the additional 30-plus airmen implicated in an investigation into cheating on proficiency tests are alleged to have participated in the cheating directly or were involved in some indirect way. (AP Photo/Robert Burns, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The cheating scandal inside the Air Force’s nuclear missile corps is expanding, with the number of service members implicated by investigators now roughly double the 34 reported just a week ago, officials said Tuesday.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the additional 30-plus airmen suspected of being involved in cheating on proficiency tests are alleged to have participated in the cheating directly or were involved indirectly.

Regardless, a doubling of the number implicated means that approximately 14 percent of the entire Air Force cadre of nuclear missile launch control officers, which numbers about 500, has been removed at least temporarily from active missile duty. It was not clear Tuesday how that affects the mission, beyond requiring the remaining crew members to bear a bigger share of the work.

The officials who disclosed the higher number cheating suspects spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the information by name Login to read more